Yellow brass — the plumbing and pipe grade most scrappers bring in — averages $2.14 per pound nationally as of 19 August 2026, with yards quoting anywhere from $1.90 to $3.60 depending on where you stand. Red brass and bronze pay more, roughly $2.43 to $4.92. Dirty or irony brass falls off a cliff at $0.37 to $1.65, and brass turnings sit in the middle around $1.42 to $2.45.
| Grade / Item | Low | High | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow brass solids | $1.90 | $3.60 | USD/lb |
| Red brass | $2.43 | $4.92 | USD/lb |
| Bronze | $3.00 | $4.20 | USD/lb |
| Brass shells (primers out) | $2.35 | $3.15 | USD/lb |
| Clean brass radiators | $1.88 | $3.15 | USD/lb |
| Brass turnings | $1.42 | $2.45 | USD/lb |
| Dirty / irony brass | $0.37 | $1.65 | USD/lb |
| Country | Typical Range | Per Tonne | Cur. |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $1.90 – $4.92 /lb | $4,200 – $10,800 | USD |
| Canada | C$5.60 – C$14.60 /kg | C$5,600 – C$14,600 | CAD |
| United Kingdom | £3.20 – £8.00 /kg | £3,200 – £8,000 | GBP |
| Germany / EU | €3.80 – €9.70 /kg | €3,800 – €9,700 | EUR |
| Australia | A$6.30 – A$16.00 /kg | A$6,300 – A$16,000 | AUD |
| India | ₹370 – ₹950 /kg | ₹370,000 – ₹950,000 | INR |
| UAE / Dubai | 15 – 40 AED/kg | 15,000 – 40,000 AED | AED |
Below is every grade a yard is likely to quote, and how to keep your load in the top half of that spread.
Brass scrap prices per pound by grade
These are ranges, not single numbers, and that is deliberate. Published brass prices in August 2026 disagree by more than a dollar a pound on the same grade. Averaging them into one tidy figure would give you a number no yard actually pays.
| Grade | Price per pound | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Red brass | $2.43 – $4.92 | Valve bodies, pump housings, high-copper castings |
| Bronze | $3.00 – $4.20 | Bearings, bushings, marine fittings, propellers |
| Yellow brass solids | $1.90 – $3.60 | Pipe, fittings, valves, decorative castings |
| Brass water meters | $1.00 – $3.80 | Utility meters, whole or stripped |
| Plumbers brass | $1.43 – $3.15 | Mixed faucet and fixture brass, often with attachments |
| Brass shells and casings | $2.35 – $3.15 | Spent cartridge brass, primers out |
| Clean brass radiators | $1.88 – $3.15 | Brass-and-copper cores, no steel, no plastic |
| Brass turnings and shavings | $1.42 – $2.45 | Machine-shop chips, swarf |
| Brass keys | $1.20 – $1.80 | Usually bought as low-grade yellow brass |
| Dirty and irony brass | $0.37 – $1.65 | Brass with steel, plastic, or heavy contamination |
Why the published numbers disagree
Four dated sources checked on 19–21 August 2026 put yellow brass at $2.14, $2.15, $3.06 and $3.33 per pound. That is not an error in any one of them. It is three real things stacked together.
- Solids versus general. A grade called yellow brass solids is clean, sorted, heavy castings. A grade called plain yellow brass is a mixed bucket. Same word, different material, roughly a dollar apart.
- Buy price versus market price. Some sites publish what dealers trade at in volume. A walk-in yard pays under that number because it has to sort, ship and take the margin.
- Geography. On 19 August 2026 the same grade paid $1.90 in Haymarket, Virginia and $3.60 in Rockaway, New Jersey. That is a 90 percent spread on one day.
Treat any published brass price as the middle of a range and call two yards before you load the truck.
Grade by grade
Yellow brass
The default grade. Roughly 60 to 70 percent copper, the rest zinc. Pipe, fittings, valve trim, lamp bases, door hardware. National average $2.14 per pound on 19 August 2026. Yellow brass solids — clean, sorted, no attachments — run $3.06 to $3.56 at dealer level. If your material is bare brass with nothing bolted to it, ask for the solids price by name rather than accepting the general quote.
Red brass
About 85 percent copper, which is why it pays more. Valve bodies, pump castings, older water fittings, some bearing shells. It is redder and heavier-looking than yellow brass. Quotes in August 2026 span $2.43 to $4.92 per pound — the widest spread of any brass grade. Red brass tracks copper almost directly, so it swings hard when copper moves.
Bronze
Copper and tin, sometimes with lead or aluminum. Bearings, bushings, marine hardware, valve stems, propellers, statuary. Pays $3.00 to $4.20 per pound. Bronze is dense and dull gold to brown. Yards often lump small bronze into red brass, which costs you money — separate it and say the word bronze.
Brass shells and casings
Spent cartridge brass, a clean and consistent alloy that refiners like. $2.35 to $3.15 per pound. Two conditions matter. Primers should be out or the yard may dock you, and no live rounds — a live round in a load will get you refused and possibly reported. Range brass in bulk is one of the easier grades to sell clean.
Clean brass radiators
Brass-and-copper heater cores and older radiator assemblies. Clean means the steel side tanks, plastic, hose clamps and mounting brackets are gone. Clean cores pay $1.88 to $3.15 per pound. Leave the steel on and the same core becomes dirty brass radiator at roughly $0.98 to $1.65. Thirty minutes with a sawzall is often the difference.
Dirty and irony brass
Brass with steel screws, iron bodies, plastic seats, rubber washers or heavy paint. This is the punishment grade: $0.37 to $1.65 per pound, and at the bottom end that is barely above shred steel. Most scrappers land here by accident. A faucet with its steel supply lines still attached is irony brass. The same faucet with the lines cut off is plumbers brass or yellow brass, worth two to four times more.
Brass water meters
The widest quoted spread of any grade — $1.00 to $3.80 per pound — and the reason is simple. A whole meter with its register, glass lens, plastic internals and steel bolts is mostly not brass, so yards quote it low. A stripped meter body is essentially red brass and gets quoted accordingly. If you have volume, break a few down and price both ways before committing the pallet.
Brass keys
Most yards do not run a key grade. Keys get bought as low-grade or dirty yellow brass, typically $1.20 to $1.80 per pound, because key blanks are often nickel-plated and old rings carry steel. One national buyer lists brass keys at $1.80. Pull the steel rings first and keep nickel-plated keys separate if you have enough to matter.
Plumbers brass
The mixed grade for faucet bodies, valves, fixture trim and shower hardware — brass with chrome plating, some solder, and small attachments still on. $1.43 to $3.15 per pound. Chrome plating does not disqualify brass, but heavy solder, steel and pot metal do. Pot metal is the common trap: it looks like brass under chrome and is worth almost nothing.
Brass turnings
Machine-shop chips and swarf, $1.42 to $2.45 per pound. Turnings always pay under solids because they carry cutting oil, they can be mixed across alloys, and they lose more in the melt. Drain them. Wet, oily turnings get docked or refused, and a magnet sweep is worth doing if the shop also cut steel.
What actually moves brass prices
Brass is 55 to 70 percent copper, so copper sets the floor and everything else is detail. That connection cuts both ways. In the week of 12–19 August 2026 copper fell about $0.40 per pound, with roughly $0.25 of that drop landing in a single stretch early in the week. Brass grades followed — yellow brass solids were down 6.2 percent on a 30-day view as of 20 August 2026, and brass shells were off 11.7 percent over 90 days.
For reference, dated copper grades in that same week ran $3.75 per pound for number one bare bright, $3.66 for number one tubing, and $3.37 for number two and three mix. When copper is soft, holding brass for a few weeks is a real strategy. When copper spikes, sell into it.
Getting the top of the range instead of the bottom
| Action | Typical effect |
|---|---|
| Remove steel screws, brackets and supply lines | Moves irony brass to yellow brass — often $1.00 to $2.50 per pound |
| Separate red brass and bronze from yellow | Recovers $0.50 to $2.00 per pound on that portion |
| Strip radiator cores of tanks and plastic | Roughly doubles the radiator rate |
| Call two or three yards before hauling | Neighboring yards differ 5 to 10 percent; regions differ far more |
| Ask for the solids price by name | Avoids being quoted the general mixed rate on clean material |
| Drain oil from turnings, magnet-sweep for steel | Avoids docking or outright rejection |
One more thing worth knowing. Most yards pay 10 to 15 percent less for brass carrying non-brass attachments or visible contamination, and on the low end clean material can command up to $1.40 per pound more than dirty. Sorting is the highest-paid hour of work in this trade.
Watch for material that is not brass
- Pot metal and zinc die-cast. Chrome-plated, brass-colored underneath, near worthless. It is noticeably lighter and a file cut shows dull grey rather than yellow.
- Brass-plated steel. A magnet settles it in one second. Use one on every load.
- Silver-plated brass. Industrial silver-plated brass is a real premium grade, quoted at $4.70 per pound on 21 August 2026. Do not send it in with the yellow.
Scrap prices move daily and yards set their own buy rates. Use these as a bargaining floor, not a promise, and confirm locally on the day you haul.